Fearing data sharing amid the escalating tensions with Israel, Iran on Tuesday urged its citizens to delete WhatsApp from their devices. Without citing any specific evidence, Iran accused the messaging platform of collecting user data to share with Israel.
West Asia Tensions: Iran Asks Citizens To Delete WhatsApp, Fears Data Sharing With Israel; Meta Subsidiary Denies Claim
Responding to the allegation, WhatsApp, which is a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, firmly stated that it does not supply 'any bulk of information to any government'. Meta is also the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Responding to the allegation, WhatsApp, which is a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, firmly stated that it does not supply 'any bulk of information to any government'. Meta is also the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
What Did WhatsApp Say?
In its official statement, the company said it was 'concerned these false reports will be an excuse for their services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.'
바카라We do not track your precise location, we don바카라t keep logs of who everyone is messaging, and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another. We do not provide bulk information to any government", WhatsApp said, as per the Associated Press.
They further reiterated the function of the popular messaging platform's 'end-to-end encryption' protocol, which ensures that messages are inaccessible to third parties, including service providers.
It ensures that messages are scrambled so that only the sender and the intended recipient can read them. Any attempt to intercept such a message would only reveal unintelligible content that cannot be decoded without a unique key.
However, speaking to the Associated Press (AP), Gregory Falco, an assistant professor of engineering at Cornell University and cybersecurity expert, said it has been demonstrated that it바카라s possible to understand metadata about WhatsApp that does not get encrypted.
바카라So you can understand things about how people are using the app, and that바카라s been a consistent issue where people have not been interested in engaging with WhatsApp for that (reason),바카라 he said.
Iran Blocking Access To Social Media
Historically, Iran has always tended to restrict access to social media platforms during times of conflict. However, many Iranians continue to use these services via proxies or virtual private networks (VPNs).
The government had banned WhatsApp and Google Play in 2022 during widespread protests triggered by the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police. That restriction was lifted late last year.
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Despite past bans, WhatsApp has remained one of the most widely used messaging apps in Iran, alongside Instagram and Telegram.
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